Ireland’s minister for overseas aid is to lobby African government ministers for support for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC).

Five people were killed when foreign tourists, including Austrian, Belgian, German, Hungarian and Italian nationals, were attacked by gunmen in Ethiopia.

The African Union has called on its member states to disregard the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, a move that could weaken the ability of the world court to hold the Libyan leader accountable for crimes committed against his people.

The worst kept secret at the United Nations is that Ban Ki-moon wants a second term as secretary-general and will almost certainly get it, possibly this month.

MILITARY bands, 400 dancers, aerobatic planes and fireworks last night electrified a hot and drowsy Tripoli as its leader Muammar Gaddafi threw Libya’s biggest party to mark four decades since taking power.

After bitter wrangling, Africa’s leaders agreed to denounce the International Criminal Court and refuse to extradite Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted for crimes against humanity in Darfur.

US president George Bush led tributes to Zambia’s President Levy Mwanawasa, who broke the African tradition of silence and solidarity among leaders to denounce neighbouring Zimbabwe’s economic ruin.

PRESIDENT Levy Mwanawasa, a trenchant critic of Robert Mugabe who won praise for his handling of Zambia’s inflation-prone economy, died yesterday in hospital in France aged 59.

Robert Mugabe’s brazen power grab in Zimbabwe’s election saga has left cracks in one of African leaders’ unspoken rules – never turn on one of your own.

Zimbabwe’s political leaders clashed today over whether to talk about how to resolve the country’s crisis as the US called for UN sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and his officials.

Prospects for a peaceful deal between Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe and his top opponent appeared to grow more distant despite efforts by African leaders at a summit in Egypt.

A spokesman for Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe today dismissed Western criticism of its widely disputed elections.

White farmers protesting over their land being seized were attacked by Robert Mugabe’s supporters the same day he was sworn in as Zimbabwe’s president, it emerged today.

Robert Mugabe will face pressure from African leaders to agree a power-sharing deal in Zimbabwe today, after claiming victory in an internationally-condemned unopposed election.

A Kenyan policeman was lynched by a mob of demonstrators today in revenge for the shooting of an MP by another officer.

Kenya may need to deploy its army on the streets to quell political violence, a British minister said today.

An opposition MP has been shot dead by a policeman in Kenya’s Rift Valley today, the second to be killed this week as the country’s violent slide into chaos continues.

Tribal violence flared again in Kenya today with mobs burning down half a town, killing at least two people.

Somalia’s president agreed today to a national reconciliation conference in a bid to end 16 years of anarchy in the war-ravaged country, paving the way for the deployment of African peacekeepers.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today backed an initiative by Italy to push for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty.

Somalia’s transitional government lifted a broadcast ban today, said the government spokesman, a day after it had ordered three Somali radio stations and an international television channel to stop operations.

The first African peacekeepers to help the government assert its authority in Somalia are expected by the end of January, the prime minister said today.

An Israeli rescue team pulled two more bodies from a collapsed building early today, bringing the death toll to 16 as police search for the owners of the building who reportedly rushed construction workers to put up new floors even before concrete on the lower level had set properly.

African leaders are sticking with their demand for two veto-wielding permanent seats on the UN Security Council, rejecting a compromise some had hoped would ensure the success of proposed UN reforms.

A US military team flew into Liberia yesterday to look at how best to bring stability to the broken West African country as President Charles Taylor prepares for exile.

The UN Human Rights Commission today elected a Libyan diplomat as this year’s president, despite objections from the US and other Western countries.